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You are here: Home / All Posts / Letter to the Older Generation, Part One-Thoughts on the Mennonite Church

Letter to the Older Generation, Part One-Thoughts on the Mennonite Church

January 20, 2019 by Sheri

Dear older people,

Let me first say how grateful I am that God has put you in our lives. You provide inspiration, encouragement, and understanding that no one else can.

Despite what you may have gathered from our restless, seemingly relentless questioning and searching, we desperately want to learn from you.

Although our questions and new ideas may seem like a threat to the stability of your lives, it is not our intent to destroy anything.

As a young person myself (25), perhaps I don’t seem trustworthy to you, but I am begging you to help us. Your wisdom, experience, and devotion to God are vital to God’s Church.

May I say that our drive to grow, improve, and yes, even change, are also vital to God’s Church?

Think that over for a bit.

Our personalities, visions, and passions vary because God wants it that way. He knows His Church will not be healthy without growth, and that it won’t be able to maintain strength without stability.

Sometimes our meetings and fellowship can seem like a two-sided protest rally, with the younger people holding up signs that read “growth,” “relevance,”and “reaching the lost,” and the older people holding up signs that read “stability,” nonconformity,” and “safety.”

Here’s the thing: we’re both right.

Whether we younger people consciously know it or not, you dear older people are absolutely right to stand for stability and make the church a safe place.

And whether you realize it or not, our passion to see spiritual growth, to see every member invested in touching the lives of the lost around us, is vital to the work of the Church.

What a beautiful thing the Church is! We need each other. If we can only stop fearing and being frustrated by each other, we can build up the Church like never before.

Thank you for listening.

Love, the Younger Generation

To be continued.

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Comments

  1. Creta says

    January 21, 2019 at 12:14 am

    Thank you

    • Sheri says

      January 21, 2019 at 6:02 pm

      You’re welcome, Creta. I hope you found this encouraging.

  2. Lori says

    January 21, 2019 at 2:58 pm

    I love this, Sheri! And as a middle aged(😳😏) mom I so often feel caught in the middle. What you write makes so much sense, I long to be a bridge between the two. May God help us continually grow toward meeting and blending these two concepts!

  3. Sheri says

    January 21, 2019 at 6:02 pm

    Thank you, Lori! I think you do very well at bridging the gap. 🙂 We need people like you.

  4. Ramona says

    January 25, 2019 at 5:08 pm

    So good and thoughtfully written!

    • Sheri says

      January 28, 2019 at 5:56 pm

      Thanks for reading, Ramona!

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About Sheri

Here Goes Something New!

Hi, I'm Sheri Yutzy. I love forests under the night sky, trying new foods, and drinking Irish tea.
I'm married to a musician who looks good in black, mama to two toddlers who love to eat, and happy resident of a Cape Cod cottage in Ohio.
I write YA fantasy and am acquisitions editor at sparkflashfiction.com.
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One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where I go, I can always find a little patch of whimsical greenery somewhere that whispers spring is here. My yard right now is strewn with little branches and dried plants from the flowerbeds and old, brown leaves. But soon the grass will grow tall and we’ll gather the branches and everything will be lush and green again.
Fairy tales always seem like a spring thing. The curses end in spring, the eggs hatch in spring, the weddings happen in spring. But I love to see the magic woven into each season, each so different, preparing the earth for the next phase.

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Here’s what I mean. By the end of every week I’m ready to see my people, engage in my church community. And by the end of Sunday? I’m ready to be alone again. My kids usually are too, so they spend Monday playing pretend together and I lurk around catching up on housework, reading a book, and gazing out the window, enjoying my own inner silence. (It’s not super silent outside of me, but that’s okay.)
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How do you find Mondays? Do you like to get started on the week, or would you like to stay in the weekend?
The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreadin The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreading its sunshine across the yard. Our bush was here when we moved and I’ve been so grateful for it. It blooms so early, the brightest thing around.
This weekend was a bit crazy. I did some new things, like make meatballs for a crowd, and juggle three Airbnb guests’ requests at once, and change a car key battery while away from home (thank God for the extra battery in the glove box) but here I am at Sunday afternoon, my time to take a look at the week before, and everything worked out.
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